Carter Hutton was actually just okay, I just really wanted to lead with that headline.

Coming off a great game last night against Carolina where Karri Ramo was crazy unreal good, the Flames looked to take that momentum and convert it into something we haven't seen from this team quite some time: a winning streak.

A 2 game winning streak is as meager as it gets, but we'll take what we can get, will we not, Citizens? (We will)

The Nashville Predators had a thing or two or four to say about that though, and ultimately they stood in the way of your Calgary Flames just enough tonight to dash our hopes and dreams forever except for the one where they draft Same Reinhart.

Read the let's hope really well written review of the Flames 4-2 loss after the jump!

Grit in Grits country

A frenzied pace to start the game, the Flames and #Perds looked to establish the tone in the first period, as Nashville outshot Calgary 15-10, though there was no action to speak of until the end of the period, as Shea Weber Smashvilled one past Karri Ramo SECONDS after I was tweeting about how great Karri Ramo is.

But the Flames wouldn't let the goal by the Preds captain beat them (they let other goals ultimately beat them), as just minutes later, Lee "Lee" Stempniak, who had not scored in 17 games, who had enough chances to score 30 goals in the last 17 games, had the chance to score on empty nets and didn't in 17 games, scored his first goal in 17 games after cashing in on a Jiri Hudler pass. Stemper Fi's line with Hudler and Demigod Mikael Backlund just steamrolled the entire state of Tennessee for that shift and a better part of the first period, and you knew it was a matter of time before one of them would cash. It was pretty to watch.

Not one thing happened in the second period. Actually, we saw some pretty good hockey from both sides, just nothing particularly noteworthy to recap here. David Poile's team outshot Bob Hartley's team 9-6, but both goalies were about a B+ so the score remained tied.

The third period for the Flames was about as sloppy as a Justin Bieber house egging. Some fugly defending (thanks, Bouma) led to Ryan Ellis strutting into the slot and clapping a bomb past Ramo just under the crossbar to give the Preds the lead they would never relinquish. Paul Byron took a penalty on the next shift and less than 2 minutes later our heroes were down 2. We thought the Flames had pulled within one after Oh Captain My Captain Mark Giordano knocked a puck out of mid air and poked it past Carter Hutton, but the linesmen deemed Gio brought it down with a high stick, and thus the goal would not count. It was not a high stick, but we're not going to let a little bit of pesky officiating accountability stand in the way of a quality loss, are we?

We are not.

Viktor Stalberg put the Preds up 3 miday through the third and I decided that would be as good a time as any to start this post game recap.

I'm glad I didn't, because Mikael Backlund made things interesting, doing that superhuman thing he's been doing over the past few games or so. That A looks good on him, doesn't it? There was still 6 minutes and change left at that point of the contest, which didn't seem right, but the Flames in the end were never able to take advantage of the remaining time, and as such, that was the ball game.

Boo.

I like Memphis better.

Why the flames lost

Not enough feet moving.

To be honest, I have no idea why the Flames lost this game. No one was particularly bad. The 4th line played very little in this one, which is good, but as a result you're asking for an excessive amount of ice time for your other three lines, but they more or less seemed up to the task.

Sometimes you just don't get the breaks. The Preds did on this night (and credit to them, they were good), and that was the difference.

The Red Warrior

hahaha, I never get tired of that picture.

IT'S JIRI HUDLER!

Sometimes when the team loses you can be hard pressed to find the diamond in the rough that is the Red Warrior. Tonight, not so much. I thought Hudler was just flying out there tonight, and just made things happen whenever he was on the ice. He played over 22 minutes with Backlund and Stempniak, and wjenever he had the puck, the game belonged to him.

There's a good chance Hudler's one of the guys that gets traded at the deadline, and it makes sense why, as he's playing the best hockey of his career and is not necessarily ever going to be this good ever again, but man, if it ever happens, I am going to miss that dude. He's fun to watch when you're not limiting his game by giving him garbage linemates.

KUDOS TO YOU, HOODS.

The Fanciest Stats

Team

Period

Time

Note

Home

Away

State

Away

1

16:52

McGrattan

4

8

25

26

28

30

6

15

16

31

38

55

5v5

Home

1

16:40

Stalberg

4

8

25

26

28

30

6

15

16

31

38

55

5v5

Home

1

13:41

Ellis

6

11

13

27

30

59

3

7

17

31

32

5v4

Home

1

13:26

Wilson

3

4

7

13

15

30

5

11

17

31

44

5v4

Home

1

12:50

Ellis

3

4

7

13

15

30

5

11

17

31

44

5v4

Home

1

12:22

Hendricks

6

25

26

28

30

59

3

7

18

22

31

39

5v5

Away

1

10:24

Stempniak

6

11

15

30

57

59

5

7

11

22

24

31

5v5

Home

1

5:40

Hornqvist

6

12

27

30

33

59

5

7

11

22

24

31

5v5

Home

1

5:07

Smith

3

4

7

13

15

30

5

11

17

31

44

5v4

Home

1

4:37

Hornqvist

6

11

12

27

30

59

3

7

31

38

39

5v4

Away

1

1:33

Bouma

4

7

8

13

15

30

5

7

17

18

31

39

5v5

Away

1

1:13

Hudler

6

7

13

24

30

59

5

7

11

22

24

31

5v5

Away

1

1:06

Stempniak goal

6

7

13

24

30

59

5

7

11

22

24

31

5v5

Home

2

18:32

Nystrom

3

7

13

24

30

42

6

8

23

31

32

55

5v5

Home

2

18:08

Spaling

3

7

13

24

30

42

6

8

23

31

32

55

5v5

Home

2

17:43

Fisher

6

11

12

27

30

59

5

17

18

31

44

5v4

Home

2

17:04

Fisher

6

11

12

27

30

59

5

11

22

31

44

5v4

Home

2

16:12

Ellis

3

4

7

13

15

30

3

7

17

31

32

5v4

Home

2

15:55

Smith

3

4

7

13

15

30

3

6

7

17

31

32

5v5

Home

2

15:48

Smith

3

4

7

13

15

30

3

6

7

17

31

32

5v5

Away

2

11:49

Hudler

6

26

28

30

59

5

6

11

22

24

31

4v5

Away

2

11:39

Giordano

6

13

28

30

59

5

6

11

22

24

31

4v5

Home

2

9:20

Wilson

6

12

27

30

33

59

3

17

18

31

39

44

5v5

Home

2

7:52

Ellis

4

11

13

25

30

42

6

16

31

32

38

55

5v5

Away

2

6:54

Monahan

3

7

11

15

30

42

3

8

23

31

32

44

5v5

Home

2

2:39

Spaling

4

7

8

13

24

30

3

15

16

31

38

44

5v5

Home

3

19:07

Ellis goal

4

8

11

15

30

57

3

17

18

31

39

44

5v5

Home

3

17:21

Smith goal

3

4

7

13

15

30

3

7

22

31

39

5v4

Home

3

16:47

Gaustad

4

8

24

25

28

30

6

15

16

31

38

55

5v5

Away

3

15:47

Monahan

8

26

28

30

42

5

6

8

23

31

32

4v5

Home

3

11:26

Hornqvist

3

12

27

30

33

42

6

17

18

31

39

55

5v5

Home

3

11:09

Smith

4

8

11

15

30

57

3

17

18

31

39

44

5v5

Away

3

6:54

Backlund goal

3

12

27

30

33

59

5

7

11

22

24

31

5v5

Away

3

5:21

Galiardi

6

11

15

27

30

59

3

6

18

31

32

39

5v5

Home

3

2:25

Nystrom

6

24

26

28

30

59

3

6

8

23

31

32

5v5

Away

3

0:19

Brodie

6

24

28

30

59

5

7

18

22

24

4v4

#

Player

EV

PP

SH

3

SMID, LADISLAV

16:30

2

8

00:00

0

0

02:37

0

4

5

GIORDANO, MARK

18:10

6

1

03:34

3

0

04:05

0

5

6

WIDEMAN, DENNIS

15:56

2

9

02:58

3

0

00:00

0

0

7

BRODIE, TJ

19:01

6

4

01:27

0

0

02:45

0

4

8

COLBORNE, JOE

12:00

1

3

01:47

1

0

00:00

0

0

11

BACKLUND, MIKAEL

17:17

4

1

02:13

2

0

03:23

0

4

15

WESTGARTH, KEVIN

07:03

1

3

00:00

0

0

00:00

0

0

16

MCGRATTAN, BRIAN

05:40

1

4

00:00

0

0

00:00

0

0

17

BOUMA, LANCE

11:05

1

6

00:00

0

0

03:51

0

6

18

STAJAN, MATT

16:21

3

5

00:00

0

0

00:56

0

1

22

STEMPNIAK, LEE

18:10

5

2

02:13

2

0

01:59

0

2

23

MONAHAN, SEAN

11:10

1

3

01:47

1

0

00:00

0

0

24

HUDLER, JIRI

19:21

5

1

02:44

2

0

00:00

0

0

31

RAMO, KARRI

8

15

3

0

0

9

32

BYRON, PAUL

10:29

2

6

01:16

1

0

01:17

0

2

38

STREET, BEN

06:21

1

4

00:00

0

0

00:38

0

1

39

GALIARDI, TJ

13:50

2

5

00:00

0

0

01:20

0

2

44

BUTLER, CHRIS

15:53

1

4

00:01

0

0

03:57

0

5

55

O'BRIEN, SHANE

13:27

1

6

00:00

0

0

00:00

0

0

Period

Totals

EV

PP

5v3 PP

SH

5v3 SH

1

5

8

5

3

0

0

0

0

0

5

0

0

2

3

10

1

7

2

0

0

0

0

3

0

0

3

4

6

3

5

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

Conclusion

No winning streak. This is why we can't have nice things.

The Flames head home tonight, I think, and with the CHL Top Prospects Game taking place at yonder Saddledome tomorrow night, the Flames don't get back at it until Thursday against, I don't know, someone, I haven't looked that far ahead (this one really got phoned in today, hey?)

THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW!

Ol' Flooby offers nothing of any value to anyone. Follow him on twitter here.

It's a funny thing if you believe in the psychology of sports how in Backlunds case that A on his sweater has brought the best out of him & he is stepping up accordingly. I see the same with Gio & the way he has stepped up as being Captain. Not all young players are able to do this & I see some leadership in Backlund I never saw before. I was already pro Backs, this just reinforces how I feel he should be definitely part of our core group moving forward.

Yeah; he's played ok lately, but before you Backlund fans go out and get your Baclund jersey and get your hair extensions put in; remember he will likely get traded before the deadline, especially now that has found the back of the net a few times......

Its kind of irritating that every time we win, it will take Edmonton another 3 wks to catch up to us. With Calgary having no elite talent, theres no way Edmonton s/b behind us. they should be ashamed if they are picking ahead of us in the draft. Hartley tries too hard to win for my liking. With no chance at a playoff, our goal s/b to draft Elkbad, etc. Come on Edmonton, suck much?

Its kind of irritating that every time we win, it will take Edmonton another 3 wks to catch up to us. With Calgary having no elite talent, theres no way Edmonton s/b behind us. they should be ashamed if they are picking ahead of us in the draft. Hartley tries too hard to win for my liking. With no chance at a playoff, our goal s/b to draft Elkbad, etc. Come on Edmonton, suck much?

It's a funny thing if you believe in the psychology of sports how in Backlunds case that A on his sweater has brought the best out of him & he is stepping up accordingly. I see the same with Gio & the way he has stepped up as being Captain. Not all young players are able to do this & I see some leadership in Backlund I never saw before. I was already pro Backs, this just reinforces how I feel he should be definitely part of our core group moving forward.

Yeah; he's played ok lately, but before you Backlund fans go out and get your Baclund jersey and get your hair extensions put in; remember he will likely get traded before the deadline, especially now that has found the back of the net a few times......

WW

Well Mr WW, I would agree if Feaster was still the GM. Since Feaster went in at GM, hehas always been hard & critical of Backs, possibly because Backs was a Sutter pick. With Burke, I don't think so. Care to wager on that one?

The entire game had been disheartening because it had been unfairly managed on ice, which strengthens my skepticism related to potential trades. Yet, rather than pinpointing player’s discrepancies, organizations should put emphasis on how games are “managed” on the basis of prejudice – stand up for their individual Hockey Teams.

My arguments are based on hypothesis: Watching many games on a weekly basis, I can validate my presumptions; and the apparent biases.

- Mark Giordano’s goal had been disallowed without being reviewed or sufficient reasoning behind the call - it was not a high stick. Ironically, Mark Giordano had scored another goal in a game prior to this one; a goal that had also been disallowed at with unfair claims that the “Calgary Flames were facing a scoring drought”. Joe Colborne’s goal had also been disallowed once. Hence, is it the goal scorer who is at fault or the Flames attire that is the primary cause for judgmental reactions among the referees?
- The number of penalty calls being dished out against the visiting team had been frustrating too. Matt Stajan had been penalized twice against the Predators. Although the initial call is validated; on two occasions, Flames players namely, Ladislav Smid and Chris Butler respectively had been pushed on ice in an identical manner as Matt Stajan had been penalized for in the second instant. Surprisingly, none of the Nashville Predator’s players had been penalized for their actions. My second burning question: Can we blame this discrepancy to the yellow fever syndrome - People who wear green glasses have the propensity to see everything green?

Consequently, the Calgary Flames team can hardly been blamed for their loss last night. Anyone with the right mental set can fathom the disheartening ways in which things are being handled on ice (without reliability or validity); an issue that is exasperating when it is ignored or neglected by authority figures. So, is it possible to put a halt to all this unfairness and have a National Hockey League that is based on professionalism, integrity and competence? Without these criteria, young players will never perform at par or reach an elite status per se regardless of how many trades the organization makes. Inherently, issues like these have the propensity to diminish the player’s confidence and competence.